HRH Queen Elizabeth II Patron of Reed’s School, Surrey

from Education Choices Magazine - Autumn 2022

Envisioning your space and its endless possibilities

Generations of dedication not to be forgotten

The death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was felt deeply by everyone at Reed’s as well as the Nation to whom she had dedicated her life. As our Patron from 1951 to 2022, Her Majesty’s service has inspired many generations of Reed’s pupils and we will be forever grateful for her commitment to our School and charitable Foundation. On many occasions, Her Majesty remarked on the importance of the work of the Foundation and of the legacy left by our founder, Reverend Dr. Andrew Reed.

Andrew Reed’s philanthropic vision was to help destitute children who had lost both parents or their father, with a mother unable to provide for them. After founding the School in 1813 (when it was known as the London Orphan Asylum) he used his extraordinary abilities to attract the support and patronage from its first member of the Royal Family when, in 1815, King George III’s fourth son - Edward, Duke of Kent (father of the future HM Queen Victoria) became our first Patron.

Since 1815 we have been honoured to receive uninterrupted Royal patronage. We have been indebted by this special patronage of our Foundation and, today, the Foundation supports around 10% of the pupils at Reed’s who still have to comply with our Founder’s criteria of having lost the support of one or both parents. Without this continued Royal support, his endeavours may never have been realised and been allowed to prosper as Reed’s School today.

Our Royal patronage has been a crucial element in increasing the profile of our charitable Foundation and allowing it to raise the funds needed to support these children. In 1951, due to the King’s ill health, the then Princess Elizabeth elected to become our Royal Patron, thereby commencing our cherished 70-year connection which the whole School community treasured beyond measure.

This connection had started in 1947 when, to commemorate her marriage to HRH Prince Philip, Princess Elizabeth established a Royal Bursary Award which has been bestowed every year since to two Foundation pupils and remains an important part of our heritage.

ROYAL VISITS

Across our 200-year history we have been honoured with many Royal visits to the various sites occupied by the School, and HM Queen Elizabeth II visited Reed’s three times.

1946 - In 1946 a young HRH Princess Elizabeth came to visit for the first time. This visit was made to the Girls’ School which was located at Dogmersfield Park, the site to which the girls had been relocated after the War (with boys moving to our current site in Cobham). A party of boys also comes over from their new home with the Headmaster, Mr. H. Axton, to be introduced and to witness the Princess planting an oak tree which was a direct descendant of an oak planted long ago by HM Queen Elizabeth I.

1997 - Fifty-one years later in 1997, the now Queen Elizabeth II arrived to celebrate the School’s 50th year at Cobham. Her Majesty unveiled

a plaque commemorating the opening of the newly refurbished Sixth Form House. She met with a great many pupils and staff and, as with all Royal Patrons, she had the wonderful ability to make each individual feel special. We even learnt that her preferred blend of tea was Earl Grey with a little milk and no sugar! The Queen planted a young Maidenhair tree in the Rose Garden, using the same trowel that her ancestor, Frederick Duke of York, had used when he laid the Foundation Stone at the School’s new building in Clapton, London in 1823. School Captain, Angus Hamilton, declared that the Queen “was very kind and courteous and put me at ease.” Another pupil, Robert Morrison, felt “the visit gave Reed’s the Royal seal of approval and that it would be something he would remember for the rest of his life.” 2014 - Seventeen years later, Queen Elizabeth II returned to Cobham in March 2014, this time accompanied by HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, on the occasion of the School’s 200th anniversary of its founding.

The Royal visitors met scores of pupils and were greeted enthusiastically by all who were there that day. During a tour of the School the Duke took a particular interest in students who were progressing through their Duke of Edinburgh Award schemes and the Queen met our Foundation pupils, talking especially to those who received the Queen’s Bursary Award. They also spoke to members of the staff and pupils from across all academic departments, taking a great deal of interest in the presentations and commentary.

After a private luncheon, the Royal party bade farewell to the assembled School community and with flags waving, cheering and a resounding retreat from the Corps of Drums, their car moved out of sight… another memorable Royal visit had come to an end.